R. Smitheman & Co. was one of Broseley's best-known pipe manufacturers.

For more than 300 years, Broseley became synonymous with the clay tobacco pipe with the earliest recorded pipe maker in Broseley dating back to 1590.

In fact, if someone offered you 'a Broseley', everyone knew exactly what they meant. It wasn't just any pipe. It was considered the finest quality clay pipe money could buy.

As tobacco smoking exploded in popularity throughout the seventeenth century, Broseley was perfectly placed to take advantage. From here, Broseley pipes were shipped throughout Britain, Europe and even across the Atlantic.

The range of pipes produced at Broseley pipeworks was extraordinary. Simple everyday pipes, churchwardens with their long stems, decorative moulded pipes, even specialised pipes intended for medicinal use.

Established in the early 1800s, the factory employed around ninety workers at its peak. Generations of families earned their living here, producing thousands upon thousands of pipes every week. But like so many traditional industries change was coming.

Demand for clay pipes steadily declined. Factories closed one after another.

When production finally stopped, something remarkable happened. Nobody cleared the factory. The benches remained. The moulds stayed where they were. Tools were left on the workbenches. Even unfired pipes remained waiting in the kiln. It was as though the workers had simply walked out for lunch... and never returned. 

For decades the buildings stood abandoned. Rain leaked through the roof. Timbers weakened. Nature slowly reclaimed the factory. But thankfully, people recognised what made this place unique.

In 1974 the buildings were granted Grade II listed status, protecting them for future generations. Then, during the early 1990s, painstaking restoration began. The goal wasn't to modernise the factory. It was to preserve it exactly as it had been found.

Today, Broseley Pipeworks remains the only surviving clay pipe factory in Britain to retain its original equipment, making it one of the most authentic industrial museums in the country.